http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/501940.html

Latinos focus of group's caucus
Durham CAN is grass-roots body

Meiling Arounnarath, Staff Writer
DURHAM - Lesly Penick stood in the back of a packed sanctuary at the Judea Reform Congregation on Sunday afternoon, not to worship but to hear about ways to help her Hispanic peers in the community.

The El Centro Hispano volunteer was at a delegates assembly for grass-roots group Durham CAN -- Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods.

Durham CAN is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of about 26 local institutions, which include El Centro Hispano and the People's Alliance as well as religious centers and neighborhood groups.

The organization's mission is to give Durham residents the power to enact institutional, political, economic and social change in the city and county.

"There was a lot of crime in the community" when she joined Durham CAN three years ago via El Centro Hispano, Penick said. "Because I am Hispanic, I want to help the [Hispanic] community and be involved with solving the problems of the community. That's the mission of El Centro Hispano also."

Durham CAN has addressed such issues as getting the Durham Police Department to hire more bilingual 911 dispatchers, improving the school system and increasing livable wages for low-income workers.

Though these are still on the group's agenda, its main push recently has been to bring affordable health care coverage to those who are uninsured.

Almost one in six North Carolinians, or 16 percent, had no health insurance coverage in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, 15.9 percent of people were uninsured in 2005.

More than 200 people showed up for the Durham CAN delegates assembly Sunday. Among them were Mayor Bill Bell, City Council members, a few school board members and U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat who is running against GOP candidate Steve Acuff for the 4th Congressional District seat.

Penick said the most notable thing for her is that public officials show up to these meetings.

Durham CAN holds officials accountable by asking them "what promises they can make to the community and how they're going to accomplish those promises," she said.

"We've seen more changes," Penick added. "There are more bilingual people in the police department. They're trying to hire more bilingual people to [answer] 911 calls."

Ivan Parra, who helps run the Durham CAN assemblies, said the organization's mission is also to hear diverse voices, whether black, Hispanic, white or Asian.

"When residents put aside their differences and work together to bring about change and bring about their visions for the future, they're very successful when they do it in an organized way, a respectful way," Parra said.

"That's what democracy is about," he added. "People participating in the decisions that are important to them."
Staff writer Meiling Arounnarath can be reached at 932-2004 or meiling.arounnarath@ newsobserver.com.